The Unluckies Luke and Clementine Fanfiction
by SurvivalOfTheFittest
Summary: Luke and Clementine are alone in the world of walkers now. Things are about to get more difficult than they ever imagined. You are invited to join these two friends in the troubles that they now face. THIS IS NOT CLUKE. CLEMENTINE IS NOW 12 YEARS OLD AND THEY HAVE A BROTHER AND SISTER RELATIONSHIP. NO ROMANTIC SHIPPING INTENDED. Thanks c: Sorry for any mistakes!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Everyone

Clementine

"Luke?"

The thick, icy snow that the pair were trudging through was beginning to make Clementine's feet numb, paining her with every step. A cold, roaring wind buffeted their clothes and sent flakes of snow into their face and burned their eyes until they were a faint red. Luke was stomping through the white lush a little ways ahead, shielding his eyes from the wind with his free hand, his machete gripped in the other. When Clementine had spoken, he turned around and faced her, a small smile creeping on his face.

"Hm?" Luke inquired, gazing softly at the little girl standing in the middle of the snow behind him.

"How much further?" Clementine had to raise her voice so he could hear her over the wind, "I'm freezing. I think I got frostbite on my feet."

Luke crossed his arms, the grin remaining on him as he looked across to her sympathetically, one eyebrow raised, "You're not giving up on me now are ya?"

"Luke!" Clementine snapped, frustrated and annoyed by his comment. They had been trekking all day in this weather, and all she wanted was a warm, quiet place to rest up and not have to deal with the snow any longer. They also hadn't eaten in a while from the small stash of food that they carried, because Luke thought it was best to ration it from time to time so it would last longer.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Sheathing his machete, Luke started to walk across to Clementine. She watched him approach stiffly, puzzled. Then, when he was just a few inches away from her, he turned around so his back was facing her and crouched low with his hands outstretched behind him, "Hop up."

Clementine backed away slightly, confused, "What?"

Luke looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes soft but impatient, "Ya rather walk the rest of the way until we find shelter?"

Clementine smiled a little at how considerate her friend was being towards her, and slowly leaped up onto Luke's back, fastening her arms around his neck gently so she wouldn't choke him. He stood up, making sure she was holding on tight before he continued through the snow.

"Thank you." Clementine muttered, relieved to finally be off of her numb feet and have some warmth.

Luke nodded briskly, his chestnut eyes lightening, "Anything for you, Clem."

It was her and Luke against the walkers now. They used to be part of a much larger group, but they were gone now. Her and Luke were the only ones left from it. For a whole year, they watched after each other, and that was the only reason they were still alive to this day. Without Luke, Clementine might not of made it a week outside of Carver's community. Ditto the other way around.

When they had left Carver's prison-like place, it was just her, Luke, and Kenny. They were separated from the rest of the group, most likely devoured by walkers in the herd. Finding a few cans of food in an abandoned inn not far away, they eventually made it their new shelter. But one day, Kenny went off to look for more supplies by himself, and never came back. Clementine and Luke went out looking for him, but instead found his walkerfied corpse in the middle of the road, wandering around a bag full of food and supplies that Kenny must have retrieved. The pair was forced to put Kenny down so they could take the supplies, but they made sure to bury Kenny's corpse and grieve for a few hours before they headed back to the inn. When they arrived, the inn was completely overrun by walkers. Too many for Luke and Clementine to wipe out, so they set off towards Wellington, the only other place rumored to be safe. Unfortunately, it was the middle of winter, so it was extremely cold and difficult for them to travel. The snow slowed down the walkers, which was the only upside to the season.

They continued through the snow, and Clementine found herself dozing off on Luke's shoulder. She was only awoken by the howling winds that seemed to get louder within every second. The weather was getting even worse, the wind picking up even more than it was before, and Clementine felt Luke shudder against the cold.

"We should really find a place to stay," She pointed out, pitying Luke as he carried her on his back and fought against the incoming blizzard at the same time, "I think there's a blizzard coming."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'." Luke paused, gazing around the area. All that surrounded them was a valley of snow, not a single object in sight. Not even a walker was roaming around. They were alone, "On second thought...maybe we should keep walking until we find a place. Cos' by the looks of it, there's nothing out here but us."

Another gust of wind caused Clementine to shiver. It was only a matter of time before time ran out and they would freeze to death out here. Her breath was coming out of her mouth like clouds, but it was quickly swept away by the wind afterwards.

All of a sudden, Luke turned abruptly, scaring Clementine slightly. She flew open her hazel eyes and stared forward worriedly, "What? What is it?"

Luke lifted his arms and brought Clementine off of his back and set her down against a nearby stone, keeping his gaze calm as if not to worry the young girl, "I think I saw a walker over there. Let me take care of it real quick, okay Clem?"

Clementine looked up at him as he pulled his machete out of the strap on his back, confused. She observed the winter land around them, seeing nothing in sight, "I don't see anything."

He started to back away, still facing her, "Well, I saw somethin'. And it's better to be safe than sorry." Luke lifted one finger, "Now...just sit there. I'll be back in a hurry, I promise."

Clementine didn't know why, but she didn't feel comfortable being alone without Luke, "L-Luke..."She quaked anxiously, hugging herself tightly to warm up as he began sprinting away.

"It's alright, Clem!"

His footsteps faded away as he stomped across the snow, his machete in hand. Clementine watched as he paused and eyed the lump of snow around him. There was a rather long silence as Luke paced around, his eyes scanning the floor. Clementine suddenly felt pity for him, realizing that he could be hallucinating the walker instead due to the extreme cold. Luke rubbed the back of his hair doubtingly before he slowly lowered the machete. Then, before he could react, a snow-covered walker burst out from the heap, lunging for Luke's leg. Luckily, he moved quick enough to twist around with a shout, slicing through the walker's head with his weapon. It fell on its side, dead.

Clementine sighed with relief, glad that her friend was alright. But something still wasn't right. There was something odd about the atmosphere that surrounded her, turning her blood cold. She couldn't quiet figure out what was wrong, but it must have been nothing. It could have just been the worry for Luke wearing off. Clementine gave him a soft smile as he started to make his way back to her, sheathing his machete once again. He leaned down to lift her up onto his back, his dark brown eyes gentle, "I told you it'd be quick, kiddo."

Clementine smirked softly, beginning to push herself to her feet. Suddenly, the earth began...shaking. There was a quiet rumble as the snow around them started shifting loudly. Then, a rotten gray hand exploded from the surface,followed by a growl. Another pair of arms popped out a little ways away from it, then another. After a few moments, a dozen walkers were staggering out of the snow, their gnarled teeth bared in snarls as they spotted the pair of survivors.

"Come on!" Luke caught Clementine by surprise as he grabbed her quickly and swept her straight off of her feet, "No time for dawdlin'!"

Looking over his shoulder, Clementine began to feel sick as she witnessed the sight of the descending walkers. Some of them had been underneath for so long that their bodies were completely rotten, and their torsos would be ripped apart, spilling raw, stinking guts over the once-white snow. The others eventually found their footing and they began trudging after them, growling. More walkers, hearing the moans of their dead friends, started breaking through the ice and crawled after them. One lurker came out from under the ice and grabbed Luke by the ankle, but he had stomped its head in easily and went on running.

Too many of them were descending from the snow, and it was a matter of time before one of them grabbed hold of Luke again and actually sank its teeth into his flesh. The thought of her friend getting bitten brought chills through her spine.

"Luke!" Clementine exclaimed, choked up in fear. Luke looked down at her, his eyes wide and worried, "Hand me the pistol we found in the marketplace the other day!"

About two days ago, her and Luke had discovered an abandoned marketplace that seemed to be ridden of walkers. They found a few bodies that had been shot in the head already, and a bunch of medicine and bandages along with a silver pistol. At first, Clementine was skeptical of taking it since it reminded her so much of the gun that was used to end Omid's life so long ago. But Luke grabbed it for her and they both smiled when they realized it had a good amount of ammunition left in it. They already had two guns, one empty and one with only two rounds remaining.

Luke had shuffled the pistol in his hands before handing it over to Clementine, "Here ya go, Clem. You can have it."

Clementine had taken the gun away from him slowly, bewildered, "R-Really?"

He put his hands on his hips, one eyebrow raised, "Sure, why not? From what I know, you're a pretty good shot with pistols. I think this one'll be good for ya. What do ya think?"

She had gazed down at it, unsure of what she felt about it, "I don't know...wouldn't you be better at it?"

Luke shook his head curtly, "Naw, I've got my machete with me. Come on, Clem, you can have it. It's sort of like a gift," He grinned lightly, "From me to you."

Clementine nodded, trying to shove the thought of Omid and Christa out of her mind, "Okay, I'll take it." She slid it into her pocket and looked back at Luke happily.

"Now," Luke lifted his hand, not finished just yet, "Don't go...shootin' that thing for no reason, alright? This ammo should last us a while, but don't waste it." His eyes narrowed, suddenly serious, "Fire only if you _absolutely _need to. Emergency only, got it Clem?"

Clementine had shrugged, her eyes soft, "Got it."

This, was definetely an emergency. She had put the gun in Luke's pocket because hers was a little small for it. Now, she regretted making that choice more than anything as they raced across the snow, dodging the lunging walkers.

Luke shook his head, his hair ruffled, "Clem, I-"

Without thinking, Clementine reached down and snatched the pistol herself. Luke stared at her anxiously as she twisted around to point the gun over Luke's shoulder. One of them was inching closer to them, its bony fingers outstretched and begging for flesh to devour. Clementine pointed the gun at its head and pulled the trigger, killing it.

The extremely loud bang hurt Clementine's ears, making them ring and block out all of the moaning coming from the walkers. Luke's ears must have been effected by the noise also, because he turned his head to glare at her, "You tryin' to get me deaf in that ear?" He snapped, "And don't waste the ammo! I'll outrun 'em."

Clementine ignored him, "No you won't." She raised the pistol and opened fire.

About two weeks after Kenny died, Clementine and Luke were still shaken and anxious about facing the future ahead of them. They settled in a rickety, small department store not far from the overrun inn. Almost all of the sections inside were infested with walkers, forcing the pair to barricade themselves in a small room by the entrance. There was a few dirty sleeping bags laid on the floor, along with a lighter and a few bottles of alcohol. Right when Luke's eyes rested on the bottles, he reached for one and twisted open the top. Clementine stopped him abruptly, pointing out that getting drunk would just make things worse for both of them. Luke obeyed and placed the bottles neatly in the corner of the room as if he was trying to fight the urge to grab them.

That night, the banging and moans on the room door subsided, and Luke and Clementine can finally relax. Luke began scoping out the drawers and cabinets in the room, and he later uncovered a can of clementines. He had joked about her name and the title of the food, but little after he got over it and they sat down to eat the clementines.

They sat in silence before Luke finally popped open the top of the can and the sweet aroma of clementines filled the air and made Clementine's mouth water. He looked down at the fruit for a few moments, not saying a word.

Suddenly, he stretched out his arm and held out the can of clementines to her, "Here, you can have it."

Clementine looked at the can, then at her friend, shocked, "What? No! We're sharing it!"

Luke just shook his head, grinning lightly, "I can live off of the beans. You deserve something sweet."

Clementine couldn't accept his offer. He looked beaten and hungry, and she probably looked the same, "No way I'm eating all of it! You deserve it, too." She gave Luke the classic puppy-dog eyes that always made him stumble into a guilt trip.

He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes, "Alright, alright, fine! But don't be whinin' about how ya didn't get enough of it after it's gone."

Then, he rationed the clementines half and half and put Clementine's in a white plastic bowl that he found beside the can. Then, he slid it over to her and smiled, "Eat up."

Clementine happily scooped her hand into the soft fruit and tossed them into her mouth. The sweetness exploded on her tongue, and she continued gobbling them up gingerly.

She must have been eating too fast, because Luke placed his finger on the edge of her bowl and gazed at her, "Don't you go eatin' it all in the next couple seconds, okay? Eat slowly and enjoy it."

Clementine raised an eyebrow at him amusingly as he went back to eating his own clementines. She listened to him and ate each piece one by one, savoring the taste. Once they were all gone, her and Luke laid down on the ground, not minding the cold surface that chilled their backs. Clementine's stomach felt warm and full from the clementines.

"Hey," Luke's voice broke the comfortable silence that hung between them.

Clementine turned her head to face his, her eyes still delighted from the sweetness of the fruits.

She wasn't expecting to see Luke's gaze so hard and serious, "You trust me on this, right?" He inquired, even his tone sounding low compared to the delighted voice he usually owned.

Clementine stared at him, puzzled, "Trust you on what?"

Luke let out a grunt as he leaned forward and put himself into a sitting position, "You trust me to keep ya safe? To make sure you never get bitten? Or hurt?"

She rose up to a sit along with him, surprised by his question. Clementine never really thought about whether or not Luke was doing a good job at keeping them both alive. As long as their hearts were beating, that was all that mattered. But this question had taken her aback, and at first she didn't know what to say in response.

"I..." Clementine shrugged, locking her hazel eyes into his, "I guess so. I mean...we made it this far."

"Yeah? Well I feel like I'm not doing a pretty good job." Luke rested his head on his arms, and his dark hair covered his face like a curtain, "Since when are we so excited to find one measly can of clementines? We're runnin' out of food, and I feel like I can't do nothin' about it."

Clementine glanced sideways at him, shocked to see her friend blaming himself for their troubles, "Well, that's because you can't do anything about it. The dead pretty much decide who eats and who doesn't nowadays."

Luke sighed quietly, "I guess you're right," he admitted softly, "But you sure would rather be with some big group of fit guys with lots of food and supplies, huh?"

Clementine stared at him, eyes wide, "What? No I wouldn't!"

Luke looked at her stiffly and chuckled, "Oh, really, huh?"

Clementine couldn't see herself with anyone else besides Luke without feeling safe. He was like an older brother to her...like another Lee. She never compared anyone with Lee before.

"Luke," Clementine stammered, trying to find the words to describe her care for the man, "You're the best friend anyone could ever have...I would never leave you. We're going through this together, okay?"

He stared at her in awe, as if he was still letting her words sink in. They were all true, and Clementine hoped that Luke actually believed her statement. She was also hoping that he felt the same way, and that he wouldn't ever abandon her or put her into dangerous situations, or hurt her in any way. But she never really doubted him, noting that if he did have intentions of abandoning her, he would've done it already.

"Thanks, Clem." Was all Luke had to say, along with that half-smile that he used a lot. But Clementine knew somehow that he really did appreciate her words.

Clementine decided to tease him with the one sentence that he would always tell her. She grinned slightly and leaned forward, messing up Luke's brown hair with her hand."Anything for you, Lukey."

"Lukey?!" He gasped, raising his eyebrows. She knew he hated when he called him that.

Luke grabbed her hand playfully and gazed at her, the light returning into his eyes as he adjusted the hat on her head jokingly, "What if I called you Clemmy Clue from now on, huh?"

Clementine hated that nickname.

Clementine had shot down most of the walkers, but there were still more emerging from the thick snow, and she was running out of ammo. It felt like they had been running for years, decades maybe. She could hear Luke's breath getting louder and louder as his stamina was being drained from his muscles.

Suddenly, Luke's sprint stopped all together. Clementine, who had been shooting down some of the incoming walkers, turned around to look over her shoulder, confused. Her eyes dropped downward and rested on the huge trench that was in front of them. Its rocky surface sloped down into a rushing river that had some stones jutting out of the waters. They were trapped.

"Clem, we have to jump." Luke panted, his grip tightening on the girl as he stared down the drop.

"What?! Are you crazy?" Clementine shouted in disbelief. If they jumped, there was almost no chance they would survive.

"Just trust me, alright?" Luke started backing away from the cliff, "I'll keep you safe."

The walkers were getting quicker now, as if they realized that they were now cornered. Clementine stared back at them, then at Luke.

"Luke, you-"

She didn't get enough time to finish her sentence. Luke bolted forward with such speed that Clementine thought she would fly out of Luke's arms. The fast movement caused her to drop the silver glock she had been using, and it plummeted onto the snow as he ran. Then, she felt a rush of air. Everything felt like it was functioning in some sort of slow-motion. Like she was in a dream. Clementine gazed up, seeing the gray clouds that dotted the morning sky. The icy wind that she felt was beginning to create tears in her eyes.

Then, the moment was gone. They hit the ground with so much impact that Clementine felt like she was being impaled in the stomach. Luke had kept his promised by holding onto her the whole time, but even he couldn't shield her from the rocky floor that their bodies made contact with. As the pair fell and rolled a little ways down the slope, there was a snapping noise and flaming pain rose up Clementine's leg. She let out an air-ripping scream as her leg slammed against a nearby stone then fell limp.

Her leg was broken.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Broken

Clementine

Clementine didn't even have enough strength left in her to scream any longer. Luckily, they had landed clear of the river, and instead hit the snow beside it. But her leg...her leg felt like it had been torn off completely. She had to look over herself to make sure this wasn't true. She dropped her head against the snow, gasping and sobbing in pain.

Luke, who had landed a few feet away, immediately heard her cries and bolted up to her, "Clem...?"

He grabbed her hand that had been grasping her leg and put it aside hastily. Then, he pulled her over and brushed the hair out of her eyes to see her cloudy, hazel eyes. Tears were running down her face like a river; the pain was so agonizing she couldn't focus on Luke's frantic expression.

"Clementine!" Luke called, shaking her shoulders gently, "Are you okay? What-" He instantly stopped talking when his eyes trailed down to the heavy amount of blood that was staining the lower part of her jeans and that was turning the white snow a faint crimson, "Wait...oh, no,no,no,no!"

Through the tears, Clementine could actually see how worried Luke's face was as he quickly rolled up the sleeve of her jean. He uncovered her disfigured limb that almost looked even worse than it felt. Coated in blood, her leg was twisted in a rather awkward position that made it not even look like a leg at all. When Luke realized how bad the injury really was, the shaking of his hands were beginning to be visible.

"Clem...Clem, I..." Luke ran his fingers through his chestnut hair nervously, "Okay, okay. Just...let me get ya outta here."

Luke quickly ripped off a strip of the cloth from his sleeve and wrapped it around the wound. When he tied the knot, another spasm of pain came to life through Clementine's leg. She let out a faint cry, still unable to move.

"Shh, it's okay," He gently brushed his hand through her hair comfortingly, trying to quiet the young girl, "I got ya." Luke knelt down lower and raised Clementine off of the ground slowly, making sure he didn't hurt her. The walkers on top of the cliff were beginning to crawl down to them, still hungry for flesh. Luke didn't care at all about that. His top priority at the moment was to find shelter where he could treat Clementine's broken limb. He bolted off, downriver, keeping his friend close enough to keep her warm.

Clementine's ears seemed to stop functioning, because after a few seconds while Luke ran, all of the noises vanished, and she could hear her own heart beating. The pain in her leg was getting worse and worse, and the cloth Luke had tied to it was just getting soaked in her own blood.

Clementine must have hit her head pretty hard in the fall, because the world around her was blurry. There were flashes of white here and there, then some red.

_This must be what it's like to die..._

The wind was getting worse, and cold along with pain were not a very good mixture. Clementine expected Luke to just give up and abandon her, but he didn't. He was sprinting so quickly down the river, and he never broke his pace. His expression was so...worried. Luke looked at nothing else but in front of them, except for checking on Clementine every now and then. The icy wind looked like it didn't bother him, or he just didn't care about anything else at the moment.

The blood loss was starting to set in. Clementine's eyelids felt like heavy weights, and she couldn't resist slowly shutting them. Now, it was only a matter of luck whether or not she ever opened them again.

A few days before Kenny left, Clementine was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, looking down at her hands. She let her legs swing off the side in boredom, tapping her feet on the floor in a bland rhythm. Luke and Kenny were outside, doing God knows what. Her black glock laid beside her on the dark red cloth, glistening from the candlelight. She lifted her hand and adjusted her hat with a sigh.

The door to the room swung open, making Clementine jump. She instinctively whipped her hand onto her gun, but let her fingers relax when she realized it was only Luke and Kenny. They set down their rifles against the wall and gazed warmly at the girl sitting on the bed.

"Hey, Clem." Luke spoke up first. He was carrying a small brown bag in his hands as he strode over to Clementine, "I got ya somethin'."

He reached into the bag and pulled out a colorful booklet. A...coloring book?

Luke held it in front of him, grinning lightly, "Look what I found ya! I found it in one of the rooms down the hall, I thought you might like it."

Clementine took it from him and looked at the cover that had a pink unicorn flying in the sky along with puffy clouds. It had a little dried blood on it, but the book still looked beautiful. She flipped through the pages quickly, catching quick glimpses of kittens and ponies that were uncolored.

"I found this box of crayons with it, too." Luke took another thing out of the bag and set it down next to her.

A whole ten pack of crayons!

"Wow..." Clementine gaped, not knowing what to say, "I-"

"Oh, please!"

Luke and Clementine both looked up to see Kenny leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he frowned at them. His good eye hardened as he exchanged his glare towards Luke.

"She don't want that garbage, Luke." Kenny snapped, his eyebrows furrowed angrily, "Clementine ain't a little girl anymore."

Luke looked back at him, the smile disappearing from his lips as he faced the older man, "What? I thought it would cheer her up a bit."

Kenny shrugged, "_You_ don't need to worry about cheering her up. She ain't your responsibility. Leave her be."

Clementine held the coloring book closer, surprised by Kenny's words. She thought that it was really kind of Luke to give her this. And she half believed that Kenny would think the same.

"Well, what exactly are you doing for her, huh?" Luke shot back, his brown eyes flashing, "All you do is mope around here and there, never givin' her the light of day."

Clementine _knew_ that wasn't true. She set the book down, "You-"

"Now, hold on a second!" Kenny straightened up and walked stiffly up to Luke until they were only a few inches away from each other, "_I'm_ the one that lost an eye for her. Risked my LIFE for her safety!"

Luke crossed his arms, "I mean, you haven't done anythin' since we were separated from the group. Name one thing that you did for her."

Kenny opened his mouth to shout something back, but Clementine talked first, "Stop!" She yelled loud enough to make them both turn and stare at her, "I like the book, okay? And you _both _have done all you can. Please don't fight!"

Luke let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. Kenny gazed calmly at Clementine for a few moments before turning back to Luke.

"Come on outside. We need to talk about somethin'." Kenny gave one last glare at the young man before turning and walking straight out of the room, grabbing his rifle on the way. Clementine knew for sure that Kenny wouldn't hurt Luke in any way, but his actions still seemed menacing to her.

Luke looked down at her, his eyes full of sorrow, "I'm sorry, Clem. Enjoy that coloring book, I'm glad you like it." Then with that, he strode across the room and exited, closing the door gently behind him instead of slamming it as Kenny had.

Clementine suddenly felt very, very sad. She looked down at the coloring book, holding it in her cold, pale fingers. Not motivated to draw in it any longer, she threw the book against the bed and decided to lay down instead. Sobbing quietly, she pulled the covers over her head and tried to think of happier times before the dead had starting walking.

But no happier moments came.

Not a single one.

Clementine's eyes flew open. The first thing she saw was wood. Her first feeling was pain.

She leaned forward, very confused of what was going on. Apparently, Luke had found shelter, just like he said he would. But what was wrong with her leg? Why did it feel like it was on fire?

Gazing down, she caught sight of her leg, wrapped in white cloth and laid in a soft pillow. Her memories hit her like a rock. Images of the icy river and the bloody snow around her flashed through her mind. Then, it was Luke's arms lifting her off of the ground, holding her close as he ran. Her leg had broken, hadn't it? She couldn't remember...

The door to the room suddenly clicked, and Clementine jerked her head over to see Luke standing in the doorway. He was holding a white cloth in his pale hands, his eyes lighting up when he laid them on Clementine's figure.

"Hey, Clem." His voice sounded very hoarse and tired against the stiff walls, "How are you feeling?"

Luke strode over to her beside and sat down on the side of it, gazing at her with his soft, dark eyes. He didn't look so great, either. There were faint circles under his eyes, his cheeks hollow with fatigue. His smooth, black vest was still plastered with dried blood, and he smelled like rotten guts and other disgusting things. The light brown hair that he owned was coated in snow and dirt.

"Uh..." Clementine didn't even remember his question, she was too busy scanning his features. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

"I get it," Luke's voice snapped her out of her daze, and she blinked up at him, "You're tired. I figured you might have had a headache, judging by that gnarly cut on your forehead."

Clementine watched as he leaned forward and pressed the cloth onto her head. The headache she had before she passed out was pretty much gone already, but the feel of the warm towel felt really nice.

"My leg..." She muttered, closing her eyes tightly as more pain surged into her leg.

"Shh, I know." Luke lifted her head gently and tied the warm rag so it would wrap around her forehead. Then, he pulled back and looked down on her leg, "It got broken pretty bad. But I...I fixed it up best I could for ya."

It still hurt pretty bad, but the pain wasn't even near what it was back by the river. She could move her toes now, another ability she didn't have before.

Clementine gazed back down at her leg, then at Luke. Her golden eyes sunk into his as she spoke, "Thank you."

Luke gave her that bright grin that he used most of the time when things were going their way. Clementine's leg was healing, Luke wasn't as injured from the fall as she was, and he had found them shelter...

"You're probably wonderin' where we're at right now," Luke went on, straightening up, "It...it was like some sort of miracle that I found this place! All abandoned and boarded up in the middle of nowhere. The second I saw it...man, I was so happy that I could get ya somewhere safe."

Clementine gazed around the room, its windows boarded and draws hanging open, picked clean, "How big is it?"

"Only one story," Luke told her, the excitement in his voice not faltering at all from the detail, "But its got a lot of rooms, and I even found some antibiotics in one of the drawers. After I patched your leg up...I was sitting in here for hours, just waiting for ya to get up..." He glanced away as if something was bothering him, before letting out a short smirk to break the silence, "Huh, it's kinda funny that the short two minutes that I leave to get you a warm cloth, you finally wake up. I-"

"Wait, wait," Clementine cut him off, processing all of the things he just said, "You haven't slept at all? Since we've been here...?"

Luke stared at her, his eyes slowly turning a little sad, "Look, that don't matter right now. The important thing is that you're okay."

Clementine shook her head slowly, narrowing her eyes, "Luke..."

"Don't worry about me," He reassured her, lifting a tired hand, "I...I'm fine.

"No," Clementine shot back, "You're not. Go get some rest...please?"

Luke stood up and ran his fingers through his air, sprinkling flakes of snow all over the bed. He didn't notice until he looked down at the white specks that now coated Clementine's clothes. She covered her smile, trying not to laugh as he looked at the mess he made.

"Was that from...?" Luke gestured at the sheets warily,, his face screwed in confusion.

"Yep."

He let out a frustrated sigh and placed his hand on his forehead, only causing more snow to drift out of his hair. Clementine chuckled out loud and brushed some of the flakes off with her hand.

"I'll go get you a new blanket," Luke sighed, the corners of his mouth rising into a small grin as he leaned forward and adjusted her hat gently on her head. Then, he turned and walked out of the room, still sort of swaying on his feet from fatigue.

_Afterwards, he better go to sleep..._

The next day, Clementine's leg was starting to feel a whole lot better. Luke finally got some hours of sleep, which meant they were both full of energy. Laying in the bed all day was beginning to get boring, and it took a lot of begging until Luke finally let her try walking for the first time since the accident. It was early in the afternoon when Luke said he would help her out of bed. He fed her a special lunch, which consisted of peaches, beans, and a few crackers that he had found in the kitchen. It was one of the tastiest lunches she ever had since Kenny died.

Clementine sat at the edge of the bed, her feet swinging off of it. She remembered that time back in the inn when she was with Kenny while Luke was outside on watch. They were talking about the early times when they were with Lee. Not a single word was said about the bad times. Their conversation was all about the better days.

They were sitting at adjacent beds, talking back and forth to each other.

"Remember that one night back at the motor inn?" Clementine had giggled, smiling brightly at the bearded man, "When we were all eating dinner and telling jokes?"

Kenny's eyes lit up, "Of course I do! Duck was yappin' at you through the whole thing. How could I forget the most enjoyable night at the inn?"

"Then when Lee cracked that one joke?" Clementine beamed, "I don't remember it...but it made me laugh so hard that juice came out of my nose!"

Kenny and Clementine chuckled together for a few seconds,their spirits lifting as they remembered the good ol' days back at the motor inn. It was true though, Lee had a really good sense of humor that could cheer anyone up. Now, just the sight of him would make Clementine the happiest little girl in the world.

"Hey, Clem."

Kenny's serious tone made her look up at the man. He was looking down at his hands, the grin no longer on his lips.

"...Yeah?" Clementine inquired warily, looking sadly at him.

"Why did you do it?" Kenny lifted his head and shrugged, "Why did you talk to that guy on the walkie?"

Guilt slammed into Clementine all over again. She really never wanted to think about Lee's last moments.

"He said he knew my parents," Clementine replied flatly, seeing that it was the only explanation for her actions.

"Yeah, and you just believed him?" Kenny snapped, one of his eyebrows raising curiously.

"I was eight."

"Well young or not, you got Lee killed." He roared, "I'm just warning you never to trust anyone that fast ever again. You-"

"Shut up!"

Clementine brought her hand down on the nightstand beside her bed furiously. It made the lamp shake and topple over onto the carpet with a smash. It didn't break, but it was enough to make Kenny jump.

"Don't talk about Lee! EVER!" Clementine boomed, her golden eyes flashing with rage, "You hear me?"

Kenny stared at her, wide-eyed. After a few moments, they darkened with guilt and he shut them, "Clem, I'm sorry...I-I have no idea why I said that. I'm real sorry, darlin'."

Tears began forming in her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly with her sleeve. Not wanting Kenny to see her suffering, she turned away from him and laid down, sniffling softly as she thought of Lee. She couldn't believe he was dead. It was all her fault, too. The idea was for nobody to get hurt! All she wanted to do was see her parents, and the stranger had tricked her into falling into his trap.

She'll never forgive herself.

"Clem?"

Clementine jolted up, snapping out of her thoughts. She turned her head and spotted Luke in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob as he looked at her.

"Huh?" She asked, rubbing her eye as her vision focused on her friend's figure.

"You doin' alright?" Luke asked, walking up to her. He lifted her chin gently so that he could see her flushed face, "You're lookin' pretty pale."

Clementine moved his hand away and gazed up at him, "I'm fine, Luke."

Luke frowned at her lightly before putting his hand on his hip and transferring it to a smile, "Alright, then. You ready to walk?"

Clementine looked down at her broken limb, moving it slightly. It still felt really, really sore; but she couldn't lay in bed for any longer. She had to walk. Or atleast try to.

She raised her head and nodded, "Let's do it."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Help You

Luke

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay...so I played Amid the Ruins. I am really disappointed in Luke, but I'm still going to continue this Fanfiction. I know most of you really liked it so far (Thank you SO much for 19 reviews! It really keeps me going!) so I hope you guys still have some liking for Luke despite what he did in Episode 4!**_

Luke's heart felt like a drum in his chest; and it felt like it would explode at any given moment. Although he didn't show it...he was really, really worried. He couldn't keep Clementine out here any longer, or else there would be a huge risk of it getting infected. And he barely had enough supplies to deal with a measly cut. Things were looking bad all around as he charged through the snow, squinting his eyes as icy snowflakes drifted into his face. Clementine had passed out about ten minutes ago from her blood loss, and that scared Luke even more. He didn't have the time to check every few minutes to make sure she was still alive; therefore, she could turn any second now and sink her teeth into his throat.

_No...No, she can't die! I won't let her die. I'll do anything! Please, God...don't take her away..._

Luke wasn't really part of any religion; but right now, while his friend was cooped up in his arms, her leg bleeding heavily...he would do anything to increase his luck. When his eyes rested on her disfigured limb, he had really felt the urge to vomit. Not because it looked utterly disgusting, but because he couldn't bear to see Clementine in such a state. In a deep attempt to keep her calm, he had kept himself under control while he wrapped it up with part of his sleeve. The young girl's face was flushed red, tears flowing down her pale cheeks as she laid, sprawled out on the snow. Luke had not been able to even look directly at her without his heart breaking into pieces.

Walkers were making their way towards them, even some were tumbling down the slope beside them. Luke didn't slow down, or defend himself in any way. He didn't care at all about the walkers. Nothing else mattered to him right now except Clementine. She needed shelter as soon as possible.

He rounded a corner, not breaking his quick pace. A patch of overgrown weeds were growing on the other side, and he had to duck over to shield Clementine from the sharp edges of the plants. The moans of the walkers were growing distant now as he emerged out of the weeds. Luke let out a sigh of relief as he straightened up and got a few seconds to catch his breath. But the couple of seconds were all he got until something smooth and cold was pushed right against his temple.

"Well, what do we got here? A girly and her daddy, huh?"

Luke froze, forcing his eyes to slowly look to the side. There stood a man, covered in black clothing along with a scarf and a bandanna. He had dirty blond hair with somewhat of a beard. Being a couple inches taller than Luke, his lips were curled back in a menacing grin. This man was a bandit, and he was holding a silver pistol right at Luke's head. There was no doubt that he was willing to pull the trigger if he wasn't going to cooperate. Luke slightly repositioned Clementine in his arms so that her broken leg was hidden behind his forearm. This guy could easily catch on to the fact that they were weak and an easy target if he saw the girl in bad shape.

"Listen, I don't want no trouble here." Luke spoke, keeping his voice calm and leveled as he kept his head faced forward, avoiding the bandit's gaze.

The bandit let out a short smirk, "Well that's what you're gettin'. Give me all of your food, or I'll pop ya."

Luke let out a raspy sigh, forcing himself to stay under control as he was held at gunpoint, "I don't have nothin'."

"Don't lie to me, boy." His voice was getting sharper now, and he pushed the pistol harder against his head, "I know ya got some food on you. Considering you have...a little girl with you."

Luke's stomach was beginning to churn in response to the way the man said his last sentence. He instinctively held Clementine tighter in his grip, letting out another deep breath.

"We ate the last can of beans earlier," He lied, closing his eyes in an attempt to look annoyed and impatient, "Can't ya just let us go?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence that fell in between them. He didn't dare gaze at the bandit, so he kept his eyes locked on the valley of snow that lay in front of them. But the gun to his head wasn't the thing that scared him the most. There were three specific words that Luke almost knew that the bandit would say. That was the thing that made his hands start trembling anxiously.

"Gimme the girl."

That triggered something inside Luke that gave him enough courage to turn and look at the bandit face-to-face. Surprised, the man backed away slightly, still holding the pistol up towards him. His eyebrows furrowed again.

"Excuse me?" Luke fumed quietly, his teeth clenching in anger.

"You heard me! If you won't give me no food...hand me that girl there!" The bandit gestured his gun to the unconscious Clementine.

First of all, there was no way that this guy was even going to touch a hair on Clementine's head. Second, Luke realized that the way the man was holding his gun was pretty awkward and infirm. This was probably his first attack he ever had on a survivor. Even Luke could easily bat the pistol out of his grasp if he didn't have Clementine to hold onto. This guy was an idiot. But either way, Luke was being held on gunpoint, so there wasn't much he could do.

There was no telling what this man would do to Clementine if he _did _manage to take her from him. But none of that would happen as long was Luke was still breathing.

"Um, not gonna happen." Luke stated flatly, his eyes still sharp and serious.

The bandit looked a little surprised, but he quickly regained his "toughness" and cocked his gun towards him again. He walked back up to Luke and placed the pistol onto his lower forehead, "I'll give ya one more chance...Give me her."

Luke continued glaring at him without moving a muscle, "No."

The bandit looked like he hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then, he shoved the pistol into his pocket. Luke watched him suspiciously as he did so, backing away slowly. The bandit looked back at him coldly, pulling out a knife. He tried hiding it behind his back so Luke wouldn't notice, but it was a little late for that.

"Come on, boy!" The man shouted, taking short steps towards him, "It's not like she was gonna live long, anyway! Especially in your care. I-I have a group, uh...up the valley. I'll bring 'er up there for ya."

Luke didn't need to be an expert for him to notice that he was lying. He glared at him up and down, not loosening his grip on Clementine, "No thanks."

That was when the bandit lunged, his knife whipping out from behind his back. Luke saw this movement coming though, and he moved fast enough to dodge to the side, avoiding the guy as he swung the knife right at him. As he slid to the side, the bandit did manage to land a hard punch on Luke's face. Clementine fell out of his hands as he was knocked backwards, landing in the snow. His nose was stinging from the punch, but he ignored the pain as he spotted Clementine's figure laying in the snow a few feet away. He had to get to her before the bandit did.

Pushing himself up to his knees, Luke started reaching for the little girl, grunting as he strained his bruised legs. He could hear incoming footsteps from behind him, and Luke didn't have time to react before he was dragged backwards. A hand landed on his throat and pinned him into the snow, making him gag in pain as his lungs failed to get air.

The bandit pulled out a knife with his other hand and started driving it toward his chest. Luke lifted his hand and grabbed hold of his arm, pushing the knife's point away from his flesh. But the bandit's strength surprised him, and he didn't feel like he could hold his arm away for much longer.

Something caught his eye. Apparently, the pistol that the bandit had put in his pocket had fallen out during the skirmish. It was laying a few inches behind them, gleaming in the gloomy sun. He _had_ to get that gun.

Luke was using both of his hands to hold the knife off, so he had no choice but to use his legs. He outstretched his foot towards the gun, arching the edge of his shoe with the hold of the pistol.

"I didn't want to do this!" The bandit gaped, leaning down as the knife was literally a hair-length from his chest.

Luke brought his foot back, and the gun slid across the snow and came to a stop right beside him. The bandit didn't notice, too enthralled in stabbing Luke with his knife at the moment. Releasing one hand off of the bandit's wrist, Luke swiped up the pistol and slammed the butt of it against the bandit's face, knocking him off. As fast as he could, Luke straightened up and aimed the pistol at the bandit, who was sitting beside him, holding his head in pain. He pulled the trigger without hesitating, and a bang rang out as the bandit was shot down. The man hit the ground with a thud, blood pooling around him, turning the snow a faint red.

Luke dropped the pistol and leaned down, placing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Clementine was still unconscious, despite the pair of gunshots that were fired. But some walkers weren't so oblivious, and they were stumbling up the slope, moaning.

_The bandit'll keep 'em busy, _Luke assured himself, gathering Clementine in his arms as he started off towards the dip in the valley.

For a second, he regretted his actions, and wondered if he actually was losing his humanity. He tried to contain it for Clementine's sake; but he could feel it slipping out of his hands.

"Woah, woah, woah. Don't go too fast. I gotcha."

Luke held out his arms, ready to catch Clementine as she tried pulling herself out of bed. She was so determined to start walking today, and Luke didn't want to make her feel like a liability. But watching the young girl basically forcing her legs to support her weight made him cringe. He really didn't want her to get hurt in this process, or even worse, open the wound again.

There were barely enough supplies left to fix the injury if it came to that. Luke kept this fact from Clementine so she wouldn't get anxious. They were running out of food. Water. Medicine. He only had two painkillers left that he could give to Clementine for her leg, but those would run out very, very soon.

"I'm fine, Luke. I'm fine..." Clementine told him shakily, lifting herself up from the bed.

Luke didn't really believe her. He could see the pain on her face as she stood up, "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

She nodded briskly, "Yeah, I have to."

Luke looked sadly at her, putting a hand on her shoulder so he could balance his friend as she began swaying, "No, you don't. You can lay back down. I can get you some beans and-"

"Look! I'm doing it!" She explained, cutting him off.

Luke took a small step back and grinned lightly. She was standing up, her arms relaxing as she found her balance. Her sweet smile lit up on her face as she gazed at Luke happily. The sight shot him in the heart like a bullet. This little girl had no idea what was really going on, and what the situation really was. And how they were running out of the things they needed to stay alive. She didn't even know the fact that he had to murder a man with no hesitation so that he could keep her safe. If he ever told her, she would probably view him as dangerous..or some kind of monster. He couldn't risk that.

"That's great, Clem!" Luke beamed, putting a hand on his hip, "Does your leg hurt?"

"Uh...a little..." Clementine muttered, looking down at her bandaged limb, "But I think its okay. I'm gonna try walking around."

Luke watched her as she limped forward, the grin still remaining on her lips. He couldn't tell if she was hiding the pain or not, but he was just happy to see her smile.

She looked like she could walk pretty well. Luke had to guide her sometimes around the room and sometimes lunge forward when she looked like she would fall. But she didn't. It was like her leg had never broken.

"I can't believe I'm doing it!" Clementine smirked, limping over to stand in front of Luke.

"Yeah! You're a natural, Clem!" Luke praised, lifting his hand to give her a high-five.

Clementine gave him a high-five happily, blinking up at him with her bright, golden eyes. The moment reminded Luke of long back when they had left the cabin after Carver forced them out. Him and Clem left to go across the bridge together, where they found two walkers. Concerned of her safety, he told her to take out the smaller walker that was sitting against a rock, while he took the standing one that was roaming a few feet away from it. Clem had disobeyed him, dropping the taller walker instead of the other. At first, he was angry at her for not doing what she was told, but he quickly forgave her after the two walkers were put down.

Luke held out his hand to give her a high-five, but Clem acted as if she didn't completely understand the gesture. She just gazed at her own palm, confused. Then, Luke batted her hand for her amusingly. Clementine stared at him, still puzzled.

"Now...don't do that again. Okay?" Luke had warned her gently.

"Okay..." Clem rolled her eyes, slurring her voice in a sarcastic tone.

They shared a quick smile with each other before proceeding back onto the bridge. Those were the good times. Everything was so different now. They were the only ones left from their old group now. Nothing is like it was before.

"Can I go around the house now?"

Clementine's voice snapped Luke out of his memories, and he quickly glanced down at her, "What? Oh...yeah, sure thing. Just try not to walk too quickly. It's still healing, we don't wanna strain it too much."

She nodded slowly, "Right."

Luke walked over to the door and held it open for his friend. Clem limped through the door and made her way to the dining room, while Luke held onto her shoulder to guide her. He couldn't help but smile lightly as she walked through the house, her eyes scanning the walls of the place admiringly. She looked like she really liked the civil war theme it had, since she stared at the paintings that were perched on the walls. There were pictures of war-men riding on sleek, black horses, rifles pointed towards the sky. Small knick-knacks were placed on the dining room table, consisting of horse action figures and plastic rifles. Luke never knew she was into this kind of stuff.

"Wow...I love this place!" Clementine announced, looking over her shoulder at Luke, "It looks like it was never touched!"

Luke shrugged, "It probably never was. Considerin' we're in the middle of nowhere. I'm guessing the owners left on the first couple of days. I didn't know you-"

"Ah!"

Clementine suddenly jerked forward, letting out a scream as she went. Luke, as fast as a snake, lunged forward and grabbed her before she could hit the ground. He hauled her back onto her feet, breathing heavily. It felt like his heart had almost stopped.

"Well, that was a close one," Clementine gasped, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

Luke didn't want her walking around anymore. She almost got seriously injured right then, and if he hadn't caught her...

Without saying a word, he lifted her off of the ground. Clem let out a few whines of protest as he walked her across the house towards the living room. That close call was all he needed to know that she couldn't bare to walk for much longer, no matter what she said.

He set her down on one of the couches gently, placing her leg on a nearby pillow. She glared at him defiantly as he sighed and sat down beside her, hanging his head.

"I just tripped!" Clementine finally piped up, her tone sharp and reluctant, "It was nothing, really!"

Luke ran his head through his hair, "If I wasn't quick enough, you could've opened the wound. Do you understand that? We can't let that happen."

Clementine narrowed her eyes, "Then you can just patch it up again. It's not a big deal."

"No, Clem. I can't do that." Luke muttered, turning to face her, "I can't just 'patch it up again'. We...we don't have enough supplies," he had to choke the last sentence out, but he immediately regretted it.

"What?" Clementine gasped, her eyes stretching wide, "We...What are we gonna do?!"

Luke lifted his hand sternly, his gaze serious, "I'll figure something out, okay? Don't worry yourself about it."

"No! We have to do something! There's no way, we're just going to sit here," Her tone was raising into a yell, "and STARVE!"

Luke tightened his hands into fists as he leaned closer to the girl, his eyes blazing, "Shut the HELL UP! I'M going to keep you safe, no way in all things holy am I gonna just let you starve! I said I'll figure something out, ALRIGHT?"

The anger faded from Clementine's eyes, and was replaced by sadness. He could see tears begin welling up inside them, and he backed away from her. How could he yell at her like that? Luke felt so guilty for every word he just said, and he couldn't even find the words to say to tell Clem just how sorry he was.

There was a silence that fell upon them. All he could hear was the wind roaring outside, along with the faint moans of nearby walkers.

"I'm..." Luke finally spoke, breaking the quietness, "Look, Clem...I'm really sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"It's okay," Clem's voice had shrank to a whisper, "I shouldn't have doubted you. You'll do the right thing."

Luke honestly didn't know what to do, but he turned and smiled at her, "I'll try."

He leaned forward and touched the tip of Clementine's hat jokingly. She laughed a little and hit his hand away, grinning ear-to ear. Luke was so glad that she had forgiven him for his outburst, but he was just hoping that he could keep his promise of figuring out what to do about the supply shortage. But he didn't have much time to think about that. A sound echoed through the house that Luke thought he would never hear ever since they moved into this place. The noise made him instinctively stand up and tell Clementine to find a place to hide.

There was a knock on the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Stranger

Clementine

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you guys for 20+ reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter :) **_

_**P.S-**_

_**I'll be starting school next week, so the chapters will be uploading a little slower, but I'll keep working on them! Humongous thank you to **__**commercial-fisherman-kenny **__**for promoting my story on Tumblr! Thanks sooooo much! :) **_

_**And another thank you to my biggest fan, (so she says!) ,**__**warriorcats2468!**__** Your reviews actually motivated me more and more to work on this chapter, so I hope you like it! :3**_

At first, Clementine thought she had just imagined the knocking at the door. She had to look at Luke to see if he had heard it, too. The man was already on his feet, bolting across the living room. He picked up one of the guns on the wooden table, a Beretta M9, along with his machete. Luke slid open one of the drawers attached to the table and rustled through the contents of it, flinging aside old pieces of paper and a pair of broken glasses.

"Luke...?" Clementine trailed off, eyeing her friend anxiously as he continued going through the items of the drawer.

He finally stopped scrambling through the drawer and pulled out some ammunition, and shoved it into the gun. Grabbing his machete, Luke turned around again and started walking towards Clementine, holding out the Beretta.

"Here, take this," He told her flatly, grabbing her wrist gently and slipping it into her palm for her, "I want you...to stay _right _here. Do you hear me? Stay right here on the couch. I'm gonna take a look through one of the windows and see what we're dealing with. I'll come right back and tell you if-"

Another knock radiated from down the hall, making Clementine jump. She tried to focus on Luke and what he was telling her, but she just couldn't stop thinking about Carver. How that evil man had come into their old cabin uninvited. She remembered Sarah's horrified face as she cowered underneath her bed, hiding from who would be the reason of so many deaths. Reggie, Carlos, Alvin, Walter...Sarita. It all started with a knock on the door. Was a new enemy just waiting to resurface once Luke opened that door?

Luke stayed silent for a few moments, staring at Clementine worriedly, his brown eyes also holding a hint of sadness. Could he tell that she was thinking about Carver?

"...Clem, do you understand?" His voice was a lot more gentle now as he straightened up, transferring his machete to his other hand as he did so, "I just want you in here where it's safe.I'm sure it's just a survivor lookin' for some help. If it were a bandit, he would've just kicked down the door," He added a small smirk to the end of his sentence, smiling at her reassuringly, "But bandit or not, I'll make sure they go away."

Clementine nodded, holding the gun close to her chest, "Yeah, yeah. Okay..."

Luke gazed at her for a few moments before he turned and bolted out of the room, treading softly on his feet so they wouldn't make a lot of noise on the wooden floorboard. Clementine could feel her heart racing, along with her thoughts. Maybe Luke was right; maybe it was just a needy survivor. Knowing Luke, he would probably give them a few supplies and send them on their way. He was kind like that.

Then, she remembered. They didn't have much supplies right now. Luke had snapped at her in a way that she'd never seen him before. It was kind of scary to see him like that, but it calmed her down knowing that Luke had apologized for saying it. He was known for bottling up his emotions, and moving on quickly from loss and other obstacles. But even Clementine knew that he wouldn't hold them all in for long, and she dreaded the day when he just let all of his bottled emotions spill out. She almost thought he would one day while they were scavenging a truck stop for supplies. Luke told her to see if any food was laying around in the shop, while he tried to get an old car running.

Clementine found some stuff, but not much of it was very filling. She uncovered a few packages of apple sauce, a cold bagel, a half-full bottle of Gatorade, and an untouched granola bar. After she checked to make sure they were good to eat, she shoved them in her backpack and made her way back outside.

There was a loud crash coming from around the corner; instinctively making Clementine press herself against the wall and grab her gun in her pocket. Another crash. She knew that Luke was working on a car, but she was pretty sure that automobiles didn't make that kind of sound when they were being started up.

Fearing that Luke was in trouble, Clementine ran around the corner and raised her gun, holding her finger shakily on the trigger. Luke was still standing next to the car. Or what was _left _of it. All of the windows except for one were shattered to pieces, the headlights were kicked out, and one of the doors was pulled out. It didn't look like that when they first arrived here.

Then she saw Luke do something she'd never seen before. As if he had lost his mind, he started beating the car with his bare hands. He didn't realize that Clementine was standing right there, and he punched the last window and threw one of the shards in her direction. She slid to the side to avoid the glass, slowly lowering the gun. _What the hell has gotten into him? _

"Luke!" Clementine exclaimed, putting the weapon on safety and shoving it back in her pocket, "What are you doing?"

Luke didn't stop; either he didn't hear her or he just didn't care what she said. Clementine sighed and walked up to him, grabbing hold of his wrist. The touch caught his attention, and he stopped swinging his fists, but he was still breathing heavily.

"The damn thing won't start," Luke told her in between breaths, not even looking down at the girl, "It would've gotten us to a safe place. I coulda..."

That was the first time Clementine had ever seen him cry. She could tell that the car wasn't the thing that was bothering him. Clementine watched him sadly as he pulled away from her and sat down on the bench in front of the shop, bending down and covering his face with his hands. She didn't really know what to do, since no adult had ever been distressed in her presence. It was usually the other way around, where she would sometimes cry a little whenever she thought about Lee. But this was different.

Luke lost all of his close friends, and didn't even get the chance to avenge any of them. He never showed his emotions, so this was so new to Clementine. She didn't know what to do.

Clementine walked over to the bench and sat down beside him, taking off her backpack and placing it on the ground beside her feet. There was an uncomfortable silence that fell in between them, except for the quiet muttering that Luke was stifling under his breath.

Clementine bent down and zipped open her backpack. She grabbed the Gatorade bottle and held it out to Luke, "I found some Gatorade."

"That's good, Clem." Luke sighed, moving his hands so he could look at the beverage, "Is it good to drink?"

"Yep."

"Good job."

"So..." Clementine let her shoes brush against the cement ground, "No car then?"

"No."

"That's okay. I can walk," she put the Gatorade back in her backpack and was about to close it back up when she spotted something colorful peeking out from underneath the bagel and the apple sauce. Clementine grinned and reached her hand in to grab it. The coloring book.

Luke's eyes widened when he realized what she was holding, "You still have that?"

Clementine nodded, grinning lightly at him, "Yeah, I do. I actually found the time to color all of the pictures," she boasted, flipping through the pages to show him her work, "There was a blank page at the end of it, too. I drew a picture on it. Wanna see?"

"Sure."

Clementine closed the book and put her finger in between the pages at the end, then opened it again. She had to flip through a couple pages before she finally found the drawing. It was a picture of the whole group: Her, Luke, Pete, Nick, Rebecca, Alvin, Carlos, Sarah, Kenny, Sarita, Bonnie, Jane, and Mike. She had also doodled Lee next to her, he was too special not to include in the picture. They were all standing side by side, smiles drawn on their faces. She had drawn it a long time ago, so the paper looked a little dirty.

Luke took the picture from her slowly, examining it as a grin came back on his lips, "Wow, Clem..."

"Do you like it?" Clementine asked, tapping her shoes together nervously. She was half expecting him to get angry and yell at her and say things like 'what is wrong with you? Why would you draw your dead friends?' but his response was completely different.

"It's awesome," Luke told her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I love it, Clem. Do you mind if I keep it?"

Clementine felt her heart flutter at his praise, she nodded, "Sure, you can have it! I knew you would like it."

Luke gave her some sort of a side-hug and ripped the page out of the book, folding it nicely so it would fit in his bag, "That's really somethin', Clem."

Clementine smirked, grabbing her backpack, "Heh, I'm sure you'll throw it away after a while. I know you're not exactly a fan of the past,"

He shook his head, swinging his bag over his shoulder as they started walking back towards the road, "No, I'll keep it forever."

Clementine wished that remembering that moment with Luke would calm her down, but it didn't. It just made her more scared. If anything happened to Luke...

She heard the door creak open. Surprisingly, there were no shouts that followed or the explosions of bullets. It was...quiet. The wind coming from outside rattled the windows gently, and that was the only sound along with the cackling of the fire.

Clementine could hear faint voices, but she couldn't interpret what they were saying. The quiet talking went on for about two minutes, and it started to feel too peaceful. She started to loosen her grip on the gun.

_I need to go see what's going on, _She told herself, swinging her foot off of the pillow. She knew for sure that Luke wouldn't want her walking on her bad foot, and because he ordered her to stay put. But she didn't care; she needed to know what was happening.

Clementine pushed herself off of the couch, flinching as her foot pressed against the hard floor. She clenched her teeth, holding back a whimper as she limped across the room, raising the Beretta once again. It was fairly hard to keep the weapon steady, since her hands were trembling so much. She didn't know what to expect once she turned that corner...

_Luke, please be okay..._

The voices were a little clearer now, but she still couldn't pick Luke's among them. Taking a deep breath, she pressed herself against the wall that was beside the hallway that led to the front door. Her heart was beating so fast, she almost swore that the people at the door could hear it thumping.

She was just about to force her way into the hallway before a cold hand grabbed her wrist. Without even thinking, Clementine let out a scream and slammed the butt of the gun against the hand that had grabbed her. She fell backwards quickly, but caught her balance before she could plummet to the ground.

"_Fuck_!"

That was Luke's voice!

She brushed the hair out of her eyes, straightening up. Her heart dropped in relief when she saw Luke bending over slightly, gripping his hand that she had hit with her gun. Clementine must have hit him pretty hard, because he was still spitting curses under his breath as he examined his knuckles.

"Luke-!" Clementine exclaimed, but cut off as she saw another figure walk up behind him. Instinctively, she raised the gun again and aimed it at the stranger. His eyes widened and he froze, staring at her. He was older than Luke, with dirty blonde hair and a mustache. The man wasn't holding a weapon, and he looked pretty flustered as Clementine held the gun at him.

There were another pair of footsteps incoming from behind him, and Clementine watched as a smaller person crept in and paused behind the man. Once he spotted Clementine, he let out a gasp and held onto the bottom of the other man's shirt. A kid?!

Luke finally got over his injury and stood up, gazing at Clementine, then at the two strangers behind him. When he realized what was going on, he put his hand on the top of her gun and lowered it slowly.

"Clem, it's okay. They're just survivors, like I told ya," Luke told her, backing away so he could open the space between her and the pair, "This is Logan and Quinn. They're heading to Wellington, like us."

Clementine glanced at Luke, giving him a short frown. He wasn't one for opening the doors to strangers. Especially since Kenny died. Then, she looked at the pair standing adjacent to her, their anxious expressions slowly fading from their faces as Luke introduced them.

The little boy, Quinn, looked about the same age as Clementine, probably a year younger. He caught her looking at him, and Clementine looked away.

"Uh, hi..." Clementine eyed them, her voice flat, "It's been a long time since we've, uh...seen other people."

Logan nodded, his dark green eyes soft now, "Yeah, us too. This whole area is kinda deserted, surprised we've come across you folks," His gaze sudden wily turned distressed, and he looked at the floor, "There used to be three of us..."

Luke and Clementine exchanged glances with each other, frowning sadly. From the looks of it, these two have been through hell. Logan's face was bruised, and his brown jacket was covered in a mixture of dirt and snow. Quinn's dark brown hair was ruffled and had specks of snow inside of it, and he was wearing a black sweater that was clearly too large for him. It sagged over his arms and the bottom of it almost reached his knees; Clementine guessed that it used to be Logan's.

"They lost their friend," Luke broke the silence, looking down at Clementine, "They've been looking for him for days. Hadn't had sleep since."

"Wow..." Clementine now realized why they looked so overthrown with fatigue. Logan blinked and rubbed his hand against Quinn's shoulder comfortingly.

"Why don't ya come in here and make yourselves comfortable?" Luke offered, gesturing a thumb over a shoulder towards the living room.

Logan gazed at Quinn before nodding, "Yeah, that'd be great."

As they made their way to the living room, Clementine watched them, narrowing her eyes. Before Luke could follow them, she walked up beside him and glared up.

"Do you trust these people _that _much to just let them in?" Clementine hissed at him, keeping her voice low so they wouldn't hear her.

"Hey," Luke muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "They look pretty beat up, I just thought we could give 'em someplace warm to stay for a bit. Then, we'll send them on their way. Okay? They seem like nice people."

Clementine shrugged, "Of course they _look_ nice. I'm sure Carver looked friendly when you first met him, too."

Luke didn't say anything, instead he turned away and sighed. She shouldn't have mentioned Carver; she didn't mean to strike any of Luke's nerves. Hopefully he wouldn't yell at her again...

Luke's eyes shot open and his gaze bolted down to her leg, "Shit! I forgot! Here, let me help ya."

Clementine didn't resist as he placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her into the living room. It was a lot easier to walk with Luke's help.

Logan and Quinn were already sitting side by side on one of the couches. Luke helped Clementine sit down on the one across from them.

"I'll go get you two something to eat," Luke started, turning towards the kitchen.

"No, no, it's fine." Logan piped up, "We have enough food. Thanks, though."

He gave the man a nod before sitting down next to Clementine. Quinn pressed up closer to Logan, staring at them warily.

"Sorry, I didn't even introduce ya to my friend here," Luke gave Clementine a pat on the back, "She's Clementine."

"Hey there, Clementine." Logan gave her an awkward wave, "Quinn here hasn't seen a kid his age for a long time."

Clementine didn't like looking at Quinn. He looked just like Duck. She could feel all of their stares on her as she avoided Quinn's gaze.

"So, uh..." Luke broke the silence once again, as if he could feel Clementine's tension, "What made you decide to head up to Wellington?"

Logan kept looking at Clementine for a few moments before he turned his head towards Luke, "The third person in our crew...Jason, had a lot of information about the place. He thinks that his relatives might be there, so we kinda tagged along with him. Figured it would be a safe place."

Luke nodded, "Yep, that's why Clem and I are goin'. She had a friend named Christa and..."

Clementine turned away and looked at the fire, feeling a pang of sadness as she thought of her lost friend. Luke sighed guiltily and didn't finish his sentence.

"So this...Jason. What did he look like? We could keep an eye out for him for ya if you'd like." Luke said, changing the subject.

Logan smiled, "That'd be real nice of ya, Luke. Well, last time I saw him, he was wearing a black coat and a scarf. He has blonde hair like mine, and a beard. He also had a silver pistol with him, just in case he ran into any walkers while he went out looking for supplies."

Clementine expected Luke to say something like 'I hope you find him' or 'I'm sure hes fine'. But he didn't say anything. She had to turn and look at him to even make sure he was still sitting next to her. He looked utterly horrified.

"Luke...?" Clementine murmered, staring at her motionless friend.

"Was your friend by the river?" Luke blurted out, leaning forward.

Logan looked taken back by Luke's question. Even Quinn looked flushed. The pair exchanged glances before Logan nodded slowly, his eyes wide. Clementine stared at Luke as he stood up, wiping his face.

"Sorry, sorry." Luke told them, his tone shaky, "I haven't seen him. Clem, come with me real quick. I think I heard something outside."

Clementine knew he was lying, and he was just making up a believable excuse so he could tell her something. She sighed and stood up, feeling Luke grab hold of her arm and basically drag her out of the room. Something about Luke's behavior was making Clementine's blood run cold. He finally pulled her into the hallway and made sure they weren't being listened to. Clementine stared at him, trying to figure out what was making him so stressed.

"Clem, I...I did something really bad." Luke whispered, his brown eyes intense.

Clementine backtracked to everything that Luke had done, but none of his actions seemed that bad. What was he talking about?

"What do you mean?" Clementine inquired, echoing her own thoughts.

Luke sighed and turned away so his back was facing her. He placed his hand over his eyes and paced forward, slamming his fist into the door. Clementine jumped, startled by his sudden outburst. She was about to ask him what was wrong before he turned around to face her again.

"I killed Logan's friend."


End file.
